A happy camper

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Day 24.

Since I was staying put today the day began with bacon, eggs and toast. I cook bacon and eggs ever Sunday at home but a little more often while camping. I rarely ate eggs in the past 55 years but it’s another source of protein and cooking them over easy still let’s me dip my toast in the yoke like I did as a child with a soft boiled egg that mom would prepare. I still don’t enjoy egg whites to be honest. Without toast I don’t think I would eat them.

When I unloaded the bike yesterday afternoon I figured I’d ride into Regina to go to the gym but things are always changing right? Since I got a case of Diet Pepsi Lime in Sicamous when I was there I’ve been looking around elsewhere. I haven’t seen it at home since shortly after the pandemic hit. A few places have had regular but I called the grocery store in the same plaza as the gym and they had some! I bought all seven cases today and obviously they weren’t going to fit on the bike. Taking the Jeep also gave me the opportunity to get it washed. This was a new experience or perhaps a new system for me. It was a self power wash at a gas bar but you don’t use coins. You get a timed ticket as you enter the garage area with six wash bays and you pay based on the total time you’re inside. I did a proper soak, scrub and rinse for a little under $14 which is what a touchless automatic costs at home and I did a more thorough job. Immediately hitting the highway back to Moose Jaw at 110 Km per hour took care of the drying.

Back at camp it was time to tackle the water pump problem that came up a few days ago. I don’t need it while camping at sites with water which I always have but I usually carry a bit of water in the tank so if I want to use the bathroom or even wash my hands while travelling I can. I had used it on the way out a couple times and it was fine. One day after getting gas I tried and I could hear the pump but no water was coming out so I just assumed there wasn’t enough water in the tank. That night I added some more water assuming it would just work the next time. Nope. Again I could hear a the pump running but nothing coming out of the taps. I removed the inspection cover in Cochrane to be sure the suction hose from the tank hadn’t come off and everything looked correct. I didn’t tear into it then because I didn’t want to create a situation where I couldn’t have the external water hose connected because of a missing piece inside. Everything is connected.

Last evening I was searching for this problem on line and couldn’t really find a similar situation but I did find replacement pumps on Amazon and put on in my cart in case I needed to order it. I also saw a few rebuild kits with various components which gave me the idea to open it up today when I had more time. Once I started removing the pump I noticed a hose I could connect directly from the outside source and completely eliminate the pump. Perfect! I’ll tear it apart and I’ll have no issues with water for the rest of the trip I thought. Once I had the pump removed I thought I’d try to prime it with some water in a hose on the inlet side. Nothing at first but I just couldn’t give up because the motor was running just fine. I connected another hose so it could discharge into the tub and I put the intake hose under the tub faucet and gave it one more try. I got a little water and then POP, it started pumping as fast as I could feed it. I’m thinking maybe the check valve was stuck closed. If that was in fact the problem I think it’s unusual because I’m always reading on line of people who’s check valve gets stuck open letting water past to fill their tank without them being aware of it until it overflows. I started filling the tank while I reassembled all the plumbing and then tested it. Success! Because of this I also switched the water heater to propane from electric because that’s something else I haven’t used in a long time if ever because I always have electricity at the sites I book. It worked fine so all is well again.

While cooking supper I started preparing the inside of the trailer for the bike. Putting away the table, folding up the couch, reinstalling the wheel chock etc. After I cleaned up the dishes I hitched back up to the Jeep and loaded up the bike while a couple kids from the next site watched. I’m sure it’s puzzling the first time a kid or maybe even an adult sees a motorcycle drive into the back of a trailer.

I was correct yesterday about the firewood and had plenty left for tonight’s fire. I brought Pillsbury dough to make pie irons but I keep forgetting to get a couple apples when I’m shopping. The old times of using canned pie filling are past since I have diabetes. I’ll soften a couple apples in the microwave and add some cinnamon and artificial sweetener for filling now and top it off with a bit of no sugar added pancake syrup. Maybe on the long weekend when I’m in one place for a few days I’ll get to that.

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Photos

A bend
Not all roads across the prairies are straight

Score!
They only had seven. Maybe that’s a good thing.